See the Rise of the Motor City: Detroit’s History in Maps

I've never been to Detroit, but I'm still rooting for the Motor City to pull out of its current funk. It's not so much because it gave rise to muscle cars, Motown, and Eminem. I think it's because my city too was once reduced to rubble yet rose from its ashes a more vibrant and interesting place than it was before.

In San Francisco, the forces of destruction were seismic; in Detroit they're economic. The city is broke. Its people, many of them, can't find work. Property values have cratered. A city that was home to 1.8 million people in 1950 now has only a few more than 700,000. Turn to any news outlet and you'll find stories of the city's demise. And yes, there are maps that show it too, like this series of thematic mapsThe New Republic recently threw together using The New York Times'interactive maps (also this one) of census data.

But the maps in this gallery tell a different story -- the story of the city's rise. Europeans moved to the region as early as the 1600s, settling along the waterway connecting Lake Erie to Lake Huron. The French called it le detroit, the strait; in English it became known as the Detroit River. By 1700 it was the largest city between Montreal and New Orleans. But things didn't really take off until Henry Ford founded his Ford Motor Company here in 1903. Fueled by two World Wars, Detroit's industry -- and population -- exploded. So did the roads and other infrastructure to support it.

The city's current woes, decades in the making but greatly accelerated by the 2008 financial crisis, aren't apparent on reference maps. Its topography hasn't changed. The streets are still there. From space, as the last image here shows, you'd never know there's anything wrong.

Perhaps here too, along the banks of the river, the seeds are already in the ground.

Above:

1889

"Birds eye view--showing about three miles square--of the central portion of the city of Detroit, Michigan." (Library of Congress)

1835

"Map of the city of Detroit in the State of Michigan by John Farmer, District Surveyor. "(Library of Congress)

1860

Detail (above) of "Map of Wayne Co., Michigan." Full map below. Map notes: "Entered according to Act of Congress by John F. Geil in the Clerk's Office for the District Court of the District of Michigan." (Library of Congress)